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The bookcase

One of the books Shaun rated five out of five.

Hard thing about hard things

Ben Horowitz

  • 5/5
  • Finished 2022
  • Memoir
  • INTERVIEWING:
    • “what will you do in your first month?” beware of ‘just learning’, ‘interruption-driven’
    • “how will new job differ from current? shows self awareness
    • “Why would you want to join a small company?” beware equity, look for creativity. Running/operating vs creativity
  • When firing an exec:
    • 1) Be clear on the reasons
    • 2) Decisive language - “I decided” vs “I think”
    • 3) Have severance package ready and approved
    • 4) Follow up with comms to direct reports
  • 2 main reasons employees leave - 1) hated manager - lack of guidance/career dev/feedback, 2) no learning. Both are solved by TRAINING
  • Big vs Startup exec
    • startup - there is no inertia putting the company in motion - without input, the company stays at rest
  • INTEGRATION
    • Force creativity - monthly/weekly/daily objectives
    • Do they get it? daily meetings, demand lots of questions, Answer with 1st principles
    • Put them in the mix - have a list of people to know and learn from. Get a debrief of what was learned.